Vocabulary Terms and Language Origins

T
here are three ways we learn vocabulary:
1. From the sound of words
2. From the structure of words
3. From the context of words—how words are used in communication
Therefore, when you encounter unfamiliar words, you should ask yourself:
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Does this word sound like anything I’ve ever heard?
■
Does any part of the word look familiar?
■
How is this word used in the sentence I just read or heard?
CHAPTER
Vocabulary
Terms and
Language
Origins
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter tells you about many terms associated with vocabulary.
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Each lesson of this book presents a word list so
you can try this process. As you read each word list,
you’ll find that you already recognize some of the
words—maybe from your reading and listening vocab-
ularies—and the ones you don’t know you will learn as
you proceed through the lesson.
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Word Parts—Prefixes,
Suffixes, and Roots
You use prefixes, suffixes, and word roots every day,

whether you realize it or not. These parts of words
make up almost all of the words we use in the English
language and you will find that the meanings of many
unfamiliar words become much more clear when you
understand the meanings of the most common of these
word parts.
Prefixes
A prefix is the word part placed at the beginning of a
word. It is usually only one syllable, but sometimes it is
more. Its job is to change or add to the meaning of a
word. For example, you probably use the word review on
a regular basis. What does it mean? Let’s break it down.
First, we can break it down into syllables: re-view. View
means to look at, and the prefix, re- adds to the mean-
ing of the word. Re- means back or again, so by putting
together what you already know, you can figure out
that the word review means to look back at, or to look
at again. Other common prefixes include, in-, anti-,
pre-, post-, un-, non-, con-, and dis-. You will learn more
about prefixes and their meanings in Chapter 4.
Suffixes
A suffix is a word part placed at the end of a word that
signals how a word is being used in a sentence and iden-
tifies its part of speech. When you attach different suffixes
onto the base of a word, they change the word’s part of
speech. For example, the word sterilize is a verb meaning
to sanitize. As an adjective, it takes the suffix, -ile and
becomes sterile. As a noun, it takes the suffix -tion and
becomes sterilization. The suffix changes the word’s job
in a sentence, and it also helps give you a clue as to the

meaning of an unfamiliar word. You will learn more
about suffixes and their meanings and jobs in Chapter 5.
Roots
The pieces of words that carry direct meaning are called
roots. Many English words stem from ancient Greek
and Latin words, and because so many English words
have their source in certain recurring root words,
knowing some of the most commonly used roots gives
you access to many words at once. Thus, when you
combine your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes with
your knowledge of roots, you can figure out the mean-
ing of many unfamiliar words. For example, the word
root cogn- means to know. Words that include this root
are recognize, meaning to identify as known, incognito,
meaning unknown, and cognition, meaning knowl-
edge. You can see how knowing the base of these three
words, in addition to having knowledge of prefixes and
suffixes, can really help you work out the meanings of
unfamiliar words. You’ll learn more about roots in
Chapters 6 and 7.
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Syllables
When you were first learning to read, you learned about
syllables, the parts of words that carry separate sounds.
Breaking words into syllables is one of the best strate-
gies for seeing if a word is in your listening or reading
vocabularies. It also helps you break larger words into
smaller, more manageable, and often more recogniza-
ble parts. This will be especially helpful in Chapters 4,
5, 6, and 7, when you are working with Vocabulary Lists

that teach you about prefixes, suffixes, and roots. By
breaking words down into syllables, you will be able to
identify the meanings of unfamiliar words that contain
these word parts.
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VOCABULARY TERMS AND LANGUAGE ORIGINS
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12
Rules for Dividing Words into
Syllables
Here are a couple of quick rules for dividing words by
syllables:
1. Divide between double consonants:
ham-mock.
2. Divide after prefixes and before suffixes:
in-vest-ment.
If you already have some feel for how the word
sounds, you can divide it according to the sound of the
vowels:
3. Divide after the vowel if it has the long sound:
so-lar.
4. Divide after the consonant if the vowel sound is
short: pris-on.
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Synonyms and Antonyms
Questions on standardized tests and civil service exams
often ask you to find the synonym or antonym of a
word. Therefore, as you learn the words in this book,
you should try to think of or look up synonyms and
antonyms of the words in the Vocabulary Lists. You will

also be asked to complete exercises in this book to help
you learn even more synonyms and antonyms.
Synonyms
A word is a synonym of another word if it has the
same, or nearly the same, meaning as the word to which
it is being compared. For example, the words conceal
and hide are synonyms. They both mean the same
thing: to keep out of sight.
Antonyms
An antonym is a word that means the opposite of the
word to which it is being compared. A couple of obvi-
ous examples of antonym pairs are happy and sad,
good and bad, and love and hate.
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Denotation and Connotation
The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition,
while the connotation of a word has to do with the tone
of the word—the emotions it evokes in the reader. For
example if you were to look up the word joke in the dic-
tionary, you might get a definition similar to that of
synonyms like quip, or prank—something like “some-
thing said or done to provoke laughter”—but all three
of these words have different connotations. In other
words, they bring to mind different feelings—one pos-
itive, one negative, and one neutral. As you are learn-
ing the words in this book, try to think of other similar
words that might be synonyms, but might also have
slightly different connotations, or tones.
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Homonyms

Homonyms are words that sound the same, but aren’t.
They have the same pronunciation, but they are neither
spelled the same way, nor do they have the same mean-
ing. For example, which and witch are homonyms, and
so are their, there, and they’re. When you are listening
to the words, or reading them in context, it is easy to
work out their meaning; however, it is very important
to know which definition corresponds to the correct
spelling of the homonym. If you misspell a homonym,
people will have a difficult time understanding what
you are trying to communicate to them. You will learn
more about homonyms in the next chapter.
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Context Clues
Context is the surrounding text in which a word is
used. Most people automatically use context to help
them determine the meaning of an unknown word.
When you encounter a word in its surroundings, it is
much easier to figure out its meaning, or at least its con-
notation. The best way to take meaning from context
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VOCABULARY TERMS AND LANGUAGE ORIGINS
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13
is to search the surrounding text for key words in sen-
tences or paragraphs that convey the meaning of the
unfamiliar word.
Often, restatement and contrast clues will lead
you right to the meaning of unfamiliar words. For
example, read the following sentence and see if you can

figure out the meaning of the italicized word from
closely examining the surrounding text.
Although when Hannah joined the com-
pany she was promised perquisites every six
months, she has been working at the com-
pany for two years and has never received
any sort of bonus.
The words although and bonus should give you a
clue as to the meaning of perquisite. You know that
Hannah has never received a bonus in two years of
work for the same company, and you know that she was
promised something, so the word although gives you
the final clue because it signals a contrast. You can con-
clude that a perquisite is a synonym for bonus.
She was exempt from duty that day. She
was excused because she had been injured.
In this sentence, the meaning of exempt is restated
for you. Exempt is a synonym for excused.
You will get plenty of practice identifying the
meanings of unfamiliar words in context throughout
the rest of this book.
Good communication skills—including vocabu-
lary and spelling—are essential. A good vocabulary
increases your ability to understand reading material
and to express yourself in speaking and in writing.
Without a broad vocabulary, your ability to learn is lim-
ited. The good news is that vocabulary skills can be
developed with practice, which is exactly what this
book gives you.
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VOCABULARY TERMS AND LANGUAGE ORIGINS
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